Hi!

Have just booked a weeks holiday for Spring Bank Holiday to Tossa de Mar. My very first time to the Costa Brava. Visited Costa del Sol last year and going Costa Blanca in August.

If anyone can recommend any bars, restuarants etc etc, for a family of four, then I'd be really grateful to receive!

Just got to sort our airport transfers now!

Can't wait!

Elaine

Hi Elaine

Couple of websites to look at re. visit to Tossa

http://www.tossacostabrava.com

Is a site for lovers of Tossa as well as providing a wealth of general info. has a forum that will let you see comments on facilities from regular visitors.

http://www.infotossa.com

Official tourist info. with lots of information on resort and access to a beach webcam.

There are many bars and restruants in the resort and although people have there favourites, the place is best enjoyed by wandering through the many small streets behind the more costly Prom.

I am sure you will enjoy and look forward to seeing your comments on your return.

Hi Parcelona (love the name by the way!)

Many thanks for that information, I'll check the sites out. Five weeks to go, and I can't wait.

Elaine

A lot of people on this site are coach travellers so the choice is either the Costa Brava or Costa Dorada. I have been to both in the last couple of years, my view is that I am on holiday, there is a beach, a pool, bars and cafe's, the weather is hot there are plenty of things to do, so I have a great time.

All the resorts on the Costa Brave have there own merits, before going to Salou I was looking forward to a sandy beach, as opposed to the shale, the problem was once back from the beach there was sand everywere, so I think I prefer the shale.

There are has many posters on this site as other holiday forums so I do not think is is losing it's appeal.

It has still been relatively quiet in this forum .... do the people who have been to the Costa Brava this year think it has been quieter, or much the same?

i've been to lloret a few times this year, mostly for long weekends and i have found it quieter than in previous years.
there did seem to be less brits about than normal when i went in june.
i visited other resorts -blanes & tossa- and they seemed very quiet as well.
i think this must be partly due to the main operators not providing much,if anything, in the way of choices as to resorts/accommodation for the british market. it is possible that the parent companies of THomson etc have now found that their profits are higher in this region if they target a different client base ie germany,holland and russia. there does appear to be more eastern europeans in the area than before.
most of the people on this forum seem to be the coach journeying regulars, or those that are travelling independantly, rather than those travelling with airtours/thomson etc
i think the resorts themselves are trying to modernise, and are going through a transition period, but they have not yet identified/marketed the client base they want to encourage, so we get a mixture of every resort trying to provide all things for all people, but just not getting it quite right.
the resorts themselves are all much smaller than say benidorm, but you get the impression that they are all trying to emulate it.

I found on my recent holiday that it appears that it's the Russians who have now become the big presence in the Costa Brava. It seems that the only English people are the old hands, who originally came 30 odd years ago. It's definetly not as cheap as it used to be, and the restaraunt/bar/hotel staff in general were not as welcoming. There were exceptions, of course, but when I first came here in '86, the welcome was brilliant.
Nowadays, some of the staff can be a little offhand. It's a real pity, as CB is one of my favourite places, but if people can't make much effort for tourists, then the tourist will go somewhere else. My wife has said that after nearly half a century of tourism, perhaps they're taking it for granted.

I would be interested in any opinions.

I am with you there Cricketwatcher. I totally agree that we tourists don't receive half the welcome we used to. And I also believe we are taken for granted nowadays too. Its like its all in a days work.

Luckily, there are still a few exceptions to be found!!

I am hoping to be booking for malgrat de mar on friday. The costa brava is cheap and cheerful, thats why I like it.

I think i would agree that the welcome isn't quite the same, but given the amount of €'s the tourism industry brings into Spain, then i'm sure this will have to change! The biggest issue i had, as an early season traveller, is that i felt the campsites (Castell Montgri in my case!) were less and less prepared each season, and seemed to be opening up later .... whilst i guess they may be doing this because it has become quieter, it then starts to put more and more people off and you get into a downward spiral! Maybe that's just my thought though, cos when i started a thread about it no-one else posted!!!

... but as jaout says, it's cheap and cheerful, and as a coach traveller, it will always be an option for us. We paid £338 with Interbrava for two weeks in nice accommodation on a nice campsite ... it doesn't really get much more reasonable than that!!

We were in Calella at Christmas, and the place was very quiet, but just the way we like it. We got chatting to an ex-pat who told us that the Brava is the choice of people from Madrid in the summer, as the temperatures are lower, and more tolerable than any of the other costa's. He loved it in Calella, never regretted for a moment moving out, only rents a place, money in bank, lower cost of living, better climate. Whats not to love? When we went again in June, there were a few eastern europeans around, along with some dutch, french, american and germans. I like it because its so cosmopolitan, that its not so dominated by one nationality or another. And we found the staff very friendly to us, which was very heartening. So dont give up on the Brava, as its only 2 hours+ flying time from UK, take the plunge and enjoy yourself.